2010 Season

Rubber Chicken's Christmas Tea Party, or, Is That a Chip in Your Cravaack or Are You Just Happy to See Me?Holiday Comedy Revue 2010Directed by Brian MatuszakIt's Rubber Chicken Theater's 3rd Annual Holiday Revue! Rubber Chicken's Christmas Tea Party features originally written and performed sketch comedy and carols that have fun with local, regional, and national issues, including the recent election between Jim Oberstar and Chip Cravaack and Brett Farve's cell phone mishap. There will also be an appearance from the Mormon Tabernacle Under-Rehearsed Choir, a sneak peek at Duluth's newest scary attraction - The Bentleyville Horror, and the return of the dysfunctional and distraught Holiday Family. It's not a holiday without Rubber Chicken Theater!Written and performed by Greg Anderson, Minden Hultstrom, Taylor Martin-Romme, Brian Matuszak, Nathan St. Germain, and Anna Vogt, with a guest appearance by Kaylee Matuszak. Additonal writing by Jeremy Churchill, Anders Hultstrom, Sue Matuszak, and Cheri Tesarek. Choreography by Minden Hultstrom. Piano by Linda Bray. Board Operated by Mike Anderson.

Video of Finale Sketch and Song, "Minnesota Votes":

Theater review: Rubber Chicken's Christmas Tea Party

By: Christa Lawler, for the Duluth News Tribune

Brian Matuszak has been doing these sketch comedy revues for more than 20 years, and seems to relish the silliness involved with taking a topic like airport pat downs or a name like Cravaack and walloping it senseless.The troupe, with it’s typical mouthful of a title, “Rubber Chicken’s Christmas Tea Party, or, Is That a Chip in Your Cravaack or Are You Just Happy to See Me,” put together a show with about 20 songs and sketches, featuring local political satire and holiday-themed hijinks.There are plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments in the two-hour show, usually at the hands of Nathan St. Germain, an actor who is able to manipulate himself into a caricature whether he is playing Chip Cravaack having a meltdown as he considers the responsibilities of his new gig, or just Snoopy dashing across the stage with a box of ornaments.The opening musical number is about 15 minutes long, using re-worded Christmas carols to poke at the TSA, road construction on I-35, Dennis Anderson’s pending retirement from WDIO-TV, elections, Brett Favre’s cell phone and the oil spill.As is the general rule of sketch comedy, some scenes succeed and some sputter. Rubber Chicken Theater had more hits than misses in this six-actor, fairly well-edited revue.The best piece is a post-fourth wall bit featuring St. Germain and Minden Hultstrom trapped in the audience. It’s a take on the Chilean miners, and is packed with clever digs at the people in the seats — how they are dressed and how they smell — and physical humor when Taylor Martin-Romme attempts a rescue.But a close second is the closing number, “Minnesota Voters” to the theme of Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” that has the entire cast dancing, singing and rapping.Matuszak, who has never had a problem pimping one of his productions, even manages to incorporate the Oeuvre Award he won for his part in the production of “American Buffalo.”Matuszak dug into the video archives for a vintage piece starring Dennis Anderson of WDIO-TV, and Pat Kelly, the retired anchor from KBJR. The quick skit from probably around the early 1990s has Kelly coming clean to Anderson about stealing his hair piece. Kelly stands before his mentor, doffed with a mess of brown fluff, and Anderson explains that doing the job well isn’t about “what’s up here,” he says, pointing to his head.This show has seen plenty of venues before landing at The Venue, a multi-purpose space in the West End that has served them well for their annual “Evil Dead” productions. In the case of “Rubber Chicken Christmas Tea Party, etc.,” — at least on Friday night — the troupe was subject to the whims of the VFW’s karaoke contingent nearby.If you can’t beat it, join it.Rubber Chicken incorporated the interruption with a version of “Name That Tune,” in which audience members were invited to call out the song title. Friday’s winner received candy canes and a T-shirt from “Evil Dead.”This is the only sketch comedy show in town right now. Renegade Theater Company, opted for something different with “Fezziwig’s Feast,” a dinner theater based on “A Christmas Carol.”